New Delhi, June 26: An alleged aide of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, prime accused in 2008 Malegaon blasts case, has been arrested by the Delhi police for his "involvement" in various attacks on religious places, police sources said.

Shailendra Chauhan (26) alias Uday Pratap Singh was arrested from Nandagiri area yesterday and was produced in a court today.

Various cases have been registered against him related to attack on churches and priests in and around the national capital last year and January this year.

They said Chauhan owes allegiance to an outfit named Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh.

The Special Cell, the anti-terror wing of the Delhi Police has taken the custody of Chauhan and he has disclosed his links with the Sadhvi, they claimed.

A case has been registered against Chauhan by the local police in October 2008 for vandalising a church in Sarita Vihar pocket-B where he broke the crosses placed in the church.

The Noida Police has also registered a case against him in January 2009 after he allegedly tried to kill the father of a church by thrusting a poison filled injection on him. He was booked for attempt to murder as the father survived the attack, sources said.

Sources said that Noida police has also registered a separate case against Chauhan for an attack on a church in Sector-27 last year.

Further interrogation will carry on and we are trying to ascertain his antecedents, they said.

We got a tip-off that Chauhan, who is wanted in other cases related to vandalism and arson was to meet one of his associates in Nandnagari area, following which the local police arrested him, sources added.

Parbhani, June 26: The accused in Purna bomb blast case Rakesh Dhawade was on Friday released on bail by the additional district court.

He is also an accused in the Nanded, Parbhani and Jalna bomb blast cases. He was arrested in Malegaon blast case and it was revealed that he was involved in the conspiracy hatched for the bomb blast in various cities of the Marathwada region.

Judge M H Baig on Friday ordered his release in the Purna case, in Parbhani.

According to details, two unidentified persons who were involved in bomb blast incident which took place at Madarsa on August 27 in 2004 near Purna railway station, 15 persons were injured in the incident. Police lodged complaint against two accused in Purna police station. The complaint was given by one person Syed Arif.

In connection with this incident, police had arrested Sanjay Chaudhari and Gururaj Tuptewar (Nanded) in 2005. But they were released on bail by the district court.

Police arrested Rakesh Dhawade (Pune) on November 20, 2008 on the information given by the duo. He was produced in Purna court.

Meanwhile, ATS officers (Aurangabad) had registered supplement chargesheet against Rakesh Dhavade. The chargesheet was lodged by ATS against Rakesh Dhawade who was involved in bomb training at Sinhagad.

New Delhi, June 28: Delhi Police will send teams to Maharashtra and other states to find out if Shailendra Chauhan, arrested here for his "involvement" in several attacks on religious places, had any role in the 2008 Malegaon blast.

Police claim that Chauhan has links with right-wing group Abhinav Bharat, whose members are accused of hatching conspiracy for the Malegaon blast.

26-year-old Chauhan, an alleged aide of Pragya Singh Thakur, the prime accused in the blast case, was arrested from Nand Nagari area here on Thursday. Police had said Chauhan owed allegiance to an outfit named Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh.

"There are sufficient links that Chauhan was one of the active members of Abhinav Bharat. He was also in touch with some of its leaders who were involved in planning the Malegaon blasts," a senior Delhi Police official claimed.

Chauhan was also alleged to be in close touch with Thakur until her arrest last year, the official said adding that Delhi Police teams would visit Maharashtra and Gujarat to ascertain Chauhan's links and role in the blasts.

"One of the teams would visit Malegaon. We are sharing intelligence with Maharashtra and Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad related to Chauhan. We have got useful information from other state police forces too," the official said.

The Special Cell, the anti-terror wing of the Delhi Police, has taken custody of Chauhan and is interrogating him to find out his alleged links with the Sadhvi and other conspirators of the Malegaon blast.

Himani Savarkar, kin of freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, is said to be the president of Abhinav Bharat. Savarkar, while accepting that she is a part of the organisation, has denied any involvement in terror-related activities.

The ATS had already filed a 4,300-page charge sheet in a special court in Mumbai against 14 accused -- 11 of them already arrested -- in the Malegaon blast case.

Chauhan is accused of attacking churches and priests in and around the national capital in past two years.

A case had been registered against Chauhan by police in October 2008 for vandalising a church in Sarita Vihar pocket-B after he allegedly broke the crosses placed in the premises.

Noida Police had also registered a case against him in January 2009 after he allegedly tried to kill the Father of a church with a poison-filled injection. He was booked for attempting to murder the Father, who survived the attack, sources said.

Sources said Noida Police had also registered a separate case against Chauhan for an attack on a church in Sector-27 last year.

MUMBAI: A bail plea by sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, was rejected today by a special court which refused to accept her argument that the prosecution had failed to follow certain provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

In her bail plea filed in January, Thakur had said that the prosecution failed to file its charge sheet in the case within the stipulated 90-day period and thus she is entitled to bail.

Under the provisions of MCOCA, the period to file the chargesheet can be extended to 180 days if the prosecution files a brief of the progress report in the investigation before the court within 90 days and seeks extension to file the charge sheet.

"When the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) filed its progress report in the case, Thakur had spent 95 days in custody and thus she was entitled to bail. Although the ATS has shown Thakur's arrest date as October 23, she was taken into custody on October 10 and thus was illegally detained for 13 days," Thakur's lawyer Ganesh Sovani argued.

Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian, however, opposed the bail plea stating that the ATS had filed the report on the 89th day since Thakur's arrest on October 23 and had thus not violated any provision.

Updated on Monday, July 13, 2009, 11:51 IST
Mumbai, July 13: The prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur has threatened to kill herself alleging ill-treatment meted to her in jail.

In a letter dated July 11 addressed to the media, Sadhvi states that she is fed up with the manner in which she is being treated by the police, hospital and jail authorities and thus would commit suicide in the Byculla jail where she is lodged.

She alleged that despite her ill-health, she was taken to the J J hospital in a police jeep instead of an ambulance. "It is strange that a terrorist like Mohammad Ajmal Kasab is being given VIP treatment in jail while Thakur is being punished for her Hindutva ideology," Sadhvi's lawyer Naveen Chomal said.

Sadhvi also alleged that the state Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) has falsely implicated her in the case.

Sadhvi had earlier also filed two applications before a special MCOCA court alleging ill-treatment and physical and mental abuse by jail authorities and other under trials.

The court had then directed the jail authorities to look into the allegations and had directed that Sadhvi be admitted to J J hospital for treatment.

MUMBAI: In a reprieve to sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col S P Purohit and nine other accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, a special court today dropped provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) invoked against them saying none are part of an organised crime syndicate.

Designated Judge Y D Shinde, presiding over the special MCOCA court here, however, rejected the bail plea of Purohit.

The court dropped the charges in this case while hearing the bail plea of Purohit who had challenged invoking this stringent act. Shinde observed that none of the accused are part of the organised crime syndicate.

He also observed that none of the accused had more than one charge sheet filed against him or her — a prerequisite for invoking provisions of MCOCA.

As provisions of IPC would apply now, the case would be heard by a sessions court in Nashik.

The special court, however, stayed its order lifting MCOCA provisions for a period of four weeks to enable the state to file an appeal in Bombay High Court.

Additional DGP K P Raghuvanshi said the government would file an appeal in the high court after getting certified copy of the order.

Seven people were killed in a bomb blast on September 29, 2008 at Malegaon, a textile town near Nashik.

PUNE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has said the government would challenge in Supreme Court, the special court's decision of dropping the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) invoked against 11 accused in 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.

"We would initiate MCOCA against those involved in terrorist activities irrespective of caste and religion of the accused," Chavan said addressing a party rally here last night.

He said the government would not remain a mute spectator to the menace of disruptive tactics of terrorist elements.

Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief K P Raghuvanshi had earlier said the ATS, which has obtained a four week stay, would challenge the special court's order in higher court.

A special court in Mumbai on Friday dropped provisions of the stringent MCOCA invoked against Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Col Prasad S P Purohit and nine other accused in September 29, 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case saying none of them is part of an organized crime syndicate.

Good to see the investigation still on full steam.The accused should be given the most stringent punishment for her involvement and those involved with her.The RSS should be banned in my opinion.
Sadly i feel political pressure may end up in this case being dragged on for years.

RSS has played a honorable role in maintaining Hindu-Sikh unity before and after the murder of Indira Gandhi in Delhi and in other places"
"It was the Congress(I) leaders who instigated mobs in 1984 and got more than 3000 people killed. I must give due credit to RSS and the BJP for showing courage and protecting helpless Sikhs during those difficult days"

Good to see the investigation still on full steam.The accused should be given the most stringent punishment for her involvement and those involved with her.The RSS should be banned in my opinion.
Sadly i feel political pressure may end up in this case being dragged on for years.

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You seem to be pronouncing them guilty before the actual trail reaches the logical conclusion. IMHO, that is not a right thing to do. Wait for the trail to complete, let them prove her guilt(if at all she is guilty), let them prove the guilt of those arrested along with her(if at all they are guilty).

BTW, why are you bashing RSS here? If a particular member of some organisation does something wrong(assuming they have done it, since its not been proved yet), how can the entire organisation be banned for it? If you or me were to explode bombs, should DFI be banned?

Any organisation can be banned if and only if it is proved that most of the members in the organisation are doing similar illegal activities or that the organisation itself is into some illegal activity.

But the RSS is clever. They don't keep membership lists. So its easy to deny that a particular person was ever a member of their organization.

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You seem to be a lot of prejudice about RSS. You are working on the premise that RSS is guilty and is 'clever' in trying to deny its involvement. Thats a wrong way to start. Infact, you start in the other way - Innocent until proven guilty.

PS: BTW, AFAIK even the cops have not named RSS. So, why are we discussing RSS unless until we simply want to bash them...

Sounds reasonable. Has RSS' ideology or teachings been proved as having influenced, encouraged or instigated the Sadhvi Pragya(if in the first place she is proved as guilty)?

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Hopefully it will be. After all, that vaunted organization and its sister organizations have given birth to such stalwarts such as Nathuram Godse, LK Advani, Narendra Modi, Babu Bajrangi, and Praveen Togadia. It would be reasonable to infer that that organization imparts certain "qualities" to its followers that other organizations created for societal upliftment such as the Ramakrishna Mission or the YMCA would find it difficult to match.

Infact, you start in the other way - Innocent until proven guilty.

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By that account, we must also assume that Kasab is innocent until he is proven guilty.

Maybe we're discussing the RSS because some of us think it is time to treat the root of the problem rather than just its symptoms.

Hopefully it will be. After all, that vaunted organization and its sister organizations have given birth to such stalwarts such as Nathuram Godse, LK Advani, Narendra Modi, Babu Bajrangi, and Praveen Togadia. It would be reasonable to infer that that organization imparts certain "qualities" to its followers that other organizations created for societal upliftment such as the Ramakrishna Mission or the YMCA would find it difficult to match.

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All you have succeeded in doing is to display your prejudiced hatred against that organisation. In clubbing Nathuram Godse(a killer of Gandhi) and LK Advani(erstwhile HomeMinister, recently contested for Prime Minister's office, and a Leader of Opposition) you have shown extra-ordinary immaturity. I take strong offence to it. Like every organisation, there are good guys and bad guys.
BTW, would you use the same yard sticks on religions as well? By your logic, Osama Bin Laden, Muslim Khan, 9/11 terroristss, 26/11 terrorists were all muslims, would you then blame Islam for it?

Maybe we're discussing the RSS because some of us think it is time to treat the root of the problem rather than just its symptoms.

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That is your(and some similar minded folks') assumption. That remains a mere assumption specially with the kind of prejudice you hold against the organisation, it is hard to take your assumption seriously.

Lets limit our debate to present topic and not go off-topic(However, tempting bashing the RSS maybe to some of us in all threads).

All you have succeeded in doing is to display your prejudiced hatred against that organisation. In clubbing Nathuram Godse(a killer of Gandhi) and LK Advani(erstwhile HomeMinister, recently contested for Prime Minister's office, and a Leader of Opposition) you have shown extra-ordinary immaturity. I take strong offence to it. Like every organisation, there are good guys and bad guys.

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L K Advani is worse than Godse. Godse killed one man, but LK Advani went on a rath yatra and gave inflammatory speeches to thousands of kar sevaks who later tore down the Babri Mosque leading to Hindu-Muslim riots all over India. Hundreds of people lost their lives in those riots.

BTW, would you use the same yard sticks on religions as well? By your logic, Osama Bin Laden, Muslim Khan, 9/11 terroristss, 26/11 terrorists were all muslims, would you then blame Islam for it?

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Partly, yes.

Kasab was caught red-handed. Let is a declared terror organisation. You cant compare the two instances.

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RSS is also a previously banned organization. Red handed or not, the law says that everyone is innocent until they're proven guilty in a court of law. The distinctions you make do not apply in a legal sense.

That is your(and some similar minded folks') assumption. That remains a mere assumption specially with the kind of prejudice you hold against the organisation, it is hard to take your assumption seriously.

Lets limit our debate to present topic and not go off-topic(However, tempting bashing the RSS maybe to some of us in all threads).

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It's not an assumption. RSS and Sangh Parivar cadres have been involved in causing law and order problems time and time again. Whether it is Pramod Muthalik, Babu Bajrangi, Dara Singh or countless others, they're all happily employed in the business of killing people to satisfy their religious fanaticism. How you can disregard such simple facts is beyond me.